Mazyar M. Hedayat is the principal of M. Hedayat & Associates, PC, a law firm that has represented Clients for nearly 25 years in the areas of business law and litigation, bankruptcy law and litigation, real property transactions and litigation, construction law and mechanics liens, corporate law, and more. After attending the University of Chicago and University of Michigan, Mr. Hedayat received his MBA from the U.M. Ross School of Business, and his J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. Mr. Hedayat is a title insurance agent and operated a full-service title company for 6 years. He has held Series 7 and 63 securities licenses, as well as Business Broker's certificate His current and former professional memberships include the Chicago Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the American Bar Association, the Will County Bar Association, and DuPage County Bar Associations. While at the DCBA Mr. Hedayat chaired the bankruptcy, publication, and practice management committees, was Editor in Chief of the Bar Brief, and earned a Board of Directors Award. He has also earned various honors including Lawyer of the Year, Bankruptcy Lawyer of the Year, client-service awards. Mr. Hedayat has given CLE presentations concerning bankruptcy, electronic filing, business formation and management, construction, bonding, liens, tax deeds, title issues and other subjects. He has also written dozens of articles, and maintains two blogs. He can be reach on Twitter @mhalaw (bankruptcy law) and @practicehacker (practice management). He can also be found on LinkedIn and Facebook.

A: You ask if your uncle, who has your grandmother's PoA, can evict you from her property, which you currently rent. The Short Answer is "Yes." That is what a Power of Attorney is for - it relieves the grantor (your grandmother) of the responsibility to manage certain tasks in favor of the grantee (your uncle) - who must act in a fashion consistent with the best-interest of the grantor. In short, your uncle is your grandmother's fiduciary: if he believes that having you live in the subject property is not in the best interest of your grandmother (i.e. she could rent it to someone else or sell it more easily without you there) then he can - and should - evict you. But that is a whole process. It is not just a matter of telling you to "get out" and you depart voluntarily.
I recommend you speak with a competent Attorney in your area in order to protect yourself. I hope this information was helpful. Best of luck.

A: You ask about the "legal implications" of an Executor who is also a surviving sibling (of the Decedent?) buying the Estate's property and asking that a real estate agent not be involved. Without going too deep into the details, this idea appears wrong on every level. In short, there are red flags here:
(1) Is the Executor of the this Estate also a beneficiary?
(2) The Court should be apprised before any deal is made.
(3) A real estate agent SHOULD be employed to get the highest price and ensure an arm's length transaction
I could go on, but the point is that there is just too much that could go wrong in this situation. If I were you I would retain an Attorney to ensure that the remaining siblings (beneficiaries?) of the Estate are not shorted out of their fair share.
I hope this information was helpful. Best of luck.

A: Yes. The Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act found at 815 ILCS 513/ is still the law of the land in Illinois. It requires that certain disclosures be made by a contractor before performing work on behalf of a consumer in connection with a residence. Keep in mind that the Act can only be enforced by the State of Illinois.

A: There are a number of reasons why you may wish to change judges in a case: of right, and for cause. The meaning of these terms is outlined in the Illinois Compiled Statutes, 735 ILCS 5/2-1001.
Substitution as of Right: The most frequently used Motion for Substitution of Judge (SoJ) is that nothing substantive has been ruled on and there would be no prejudice to the opposing party if a new Judge were assigned to the case.
Substitution for Cause: The other primary reason to change Judges will be based on the Judge's failure to carry out a duty - such as enforcing his or her own Order.
In either case, the tricky part of the process is that the very Judge you are seeking to replace must rule on your Motion for SoJ. I hope this information has been helpful. Best of luck!

A: While you do a good job of describing your situation, the premise of your story - that someone "took over payments" as to your vehicle - has no legal basis. In short, you are responsible to make payments on account of all assets secured by debt. Regardless of what arrangements you make with 3rd parties, you remain solely and primarily liable. Put another way, you must make your last payment as well as any penalties and interest. As for the 3rd party, it sounds as if she is not entitled to take the vehicle because she did not comply with your agreement. That said, she may - but there is no way of knowing at this point - be able to make a case that you charged her more than was agreed (i.e. that you "overcharged" her). I recommend speaking with an Attorney about defending yourself should this woman bring a lawsuit. Best of luck.

A: Your question has several parts to it, so I will attempt to answer them in the order presented.
(1) To file Bankruptcy in the United States the Court must have jurisdiction over you (personal jurisdiction) and over your debts (subject matter jurisdiction). Another way to look at it is that you, your assets, or both, must be present - and be a legal resident of the State - to file there. While Bankruptcy is a Federal matter, jurisdiction lies with the Bankruptcy Court with authority for your State and County.
(2) The steps involved in filing Bankruptcy depend on the type of relief sought (liquidation vs. reorganization) as well as the value of your assets - which may require you to file one type of case over another. In the broadest sense, the steps are as follows:
Chapter 7 Liquidation: Court-supervised marshalling of assets by a trustee who sells them and pays off creditors. Most Chapter 7 cases are "no-asset" so creditors holding unsecured claims do not receive distributions. If a debtor is an individual they receive a discharge releasing them from personal liability for most (but not all) debts.
Chapter 13 Reorganization: Designed for individuals with a regular source of income. Chapter 13 can be preferable to chapter 7 because it allows debtors to hold onto their house, car, etc. in exchange for the debtor's plan to repay creditors at a set % over time (3 to 5 years). Chapter 13 is also used by consumer debtors who do not qualify for Chapter 7 relief under the means test.
The cost of bankruptcy varies by region, with Chapter 13 costing several times more than Chapter 7 and being much more involved. If you wish to find out specifics I recommend navigating to the website for the Bankruptcy Court for Wisconsin.
I hope that this information was helpful, and recommend that you also consult an Attorney via the Rocket Lawyer On Call program. Learn more at http://www.rocketlawyer.com/?nd-a-lawyer.rl.
Best of luck.

A: The Board of your Condominium has duty to all residents/members to ensure that insurance proceeds are applied properly for repairs. Once those repairs have been completed, the Board is responsible to ensure that any applicable warranty is honored. Finally, the Board is also required to prevent the placement of any claims by workers against the Condo Association - i.e. to prevent the placement of a Mechanics Lien. It appears that in this case your Board wants you to agree to certain safeguards before passing on proceeds to you for the repair of common elements or even your own units.
You cannot get a fully satisfying answer unless you bring the documents in question to a local Attorney and find out more. Details make a big difference is such situations. I hope that this information has been helpful. Best of luck.

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